Jan 22, 2009

More cuts to public radio

Citing a precipitous drop in donations, public radio station WNET in New York plans big staff cuts to save money. This follows last month's staff cuts at NPR West.

From the New York Observer:

Neal Shapiro, President and C.E.O. of WNET.org, told The Observer on Thursday evening that his organization, including the stations, will be cutting 8 percent of its budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The cuts will be achieved, according to Mr. Shapiro, through cost-cutting measures (such as reductions in back-office costs) and by reducing the current staff by roughly 14 percent.

Out of roughly 500 individuals, 85 or so will be losing their jobs.

The current round of cuts comes at a time when for-profit media companies across the country are suffering from a significant downturn in advertising. Public media outlets are faring little better. Back in December, executives at National Public Radio announced that they were cutting 7 percent of NPR's work force and slashing expenses across the board. It was the first major round of layoffs at NPR in roughly a quarter century.